Singing siblings release first EP

Oct. 14, 2010

Members of the Lorentzen family of Sparks were surprised in 2009 when Dave Price, the weatherman for the CBS "Early Show" knocked on their door and announced they were among the six finalists in the Singing Family Face Off. / Marilyn Newton/RGJ file

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It's coming up on two years since the singing siblings of the Sparks-based Lorentzen family made an appearance on CBS' "Early Show" in an attempt to win the 2009 Singing Family Faceoff contest.

While it could have earned the four children of the Lorentzen family a recording contract had they won, the top-six finalists lost after performing on the show in New York early in 2009. Now the four have released their first EP, a six-song collection co-written by the family, including dad John and a former Sparks man, Jared Mitchell, who has been working on songwriting in Nashville.

The Lorentzens earned their spot on the Singing Family Faceoff after sending an audition tape to producers. "Early Show" weatherman Dave Price showed up on the family's doorstep with a crew in tow to announce their spot in the finals. Although the family had been singing together for years, under the direction of music-teacher parents, it wasn't a serious pursuit.

"We never took it seriously until right before (the show)," said Anne Lorentzen, a 21-year-old University of Nevada, Reno student. "Once we did that, we came home and it had us all geared up. We had so many people contact us, and after the show we were performing a lot of gigs around town," Anne Lorentzen said, including a gig at the Arts in Bloom festival for Mother's Day in Sparks, as well as several "National Anthem" engagements.

Working independently since the television appearance, the Laurentzens (Mark, 24, Anne, 21, Lisa, 18, and Kathryn, 16) have slowly put together their new six-song EP, "Life After Love," now available on iTunes.

"We talked to a lot of local studios for quite some time, but we're all really busy with full-time school or jobs," Anne said, "so we figured we would do this one independently, but it's taken a really long time. We had to slowly buy all the equipment. My brother, Mark, produced the album and recorded all the instruments himself. Doing it independently has made it that much more exciting to finally get it out."

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"Life After Love" is based around on the group's light pop sound, and it's definitely the voices of the siblings that carry the songs.

"All four of us are into different things, and we kind of bring it together for our sound," Anne said. "Our harmonies are influenced by jazz, but we mix it with a pop sound. There's definitely little elements in our music from a lot of different things."

As for the instrumentation, the Lorentzens often use the help of family and friends.

"We're mainly singers, but we have family that's also in the Lorentzen name (in Washington), so we get to stay in the whole family thing," Anne said. "My dad plays keyboards and arranges all our music."

The group worked with Mitchell, on leave from Nashville, and another songwriting partner for a week to come up with three of the six songs. Aside from iTunes, the Lorentzens are trying to get some physical product together for radio and performance promotion.

"What we're hoping for now is to get it heard and hopefully by someone who can take an interest in it," Anne said. "We definitely want to make (the group) our No. 1 main thing."